MADRID, SPAIN--(Marketwire - Nov 8, 2011) - The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, will be attending the Climate Vulnerable Forum Ministerial Meeting on13th and 14th of November in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during which time he will be delivering the inaugural speech.

The unique global conference, which will gather over 20 vulnerable country ministerial and high-level delegations from Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, will be convened by the Government of Bangladesh, with the support of DARA1 an independent international organisation committed to improving assistance to vulnerable populations.

"The presence of the Secretary-General highlights the importance of the Forum in helping vulnerable countries deal with the growing climate change crisis in the run-up to major UN climate talks (COP17) beginning in Durban later this month," said Ross Mountain, DARA Director General.

During the meeting, delegates are expected to issue a declaration firming united political calls from vulnerable countries for action by industrialised nations and urgent support to limit the loss of human life and other damage. They are also expected to affirm their own determination to pursue green development and to show moral leadership on low-carbon development.

DARAFounded in 2003, DARA is an independent, impartial, non-profit and non-governmental international organization committed to improving the quality and effectiveness of assistance to vulnerable groups suffering from conflict, disasters and climate change. Its activities have spanned over 40 countries across 5 continents. DARA is led by Ross Mountain who headed UN relief operations during the Iraq War following the Bagdad UN HQ bombing (2003-2004), and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2004-2009). In conjunction with the Climate Vulnerable Forum, DARA developed the Climate Vulnerability Monitor 2010: The State of the Climate Crisis, a major new global report on the current and evolving impact of climate change on human society, which is co-published together with the Climate Vulnerable Forum and available on DARA's website: www.daraint.org/cvm

Climate Vulnerable Forum The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) is the first global partnership of nations from Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Pacific united against a common threat as some of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. CVF countries have contributed least to a problem that threatens, in many cases, their very survival. Participating countries include: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh (incoming chair), Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Kiribati (present chair), Liberia Madagascar, Maldives (first chair), Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam. For more information on the CVF visit: www.mofa.gov.bd

1DARA is an independent, international organization founded in 2003, and based in Madrid, Spain, where it is dedicated to improving assistance to vulnerable communities suffering from disasters, conflict and climate change through research, evaluations and technical assistance to governments and other partners. DARA is providing institutional assistance to the CVF - www.daraint.org